I’ve been really busy traveling around the country the last couple weeks and apologize for my lack of participation on the site recently. I’m finally caught up on e-mails (performify at mmajunkie dot com) and I wanted to stop by and deliver some quick hits — and put some distance between that nasty Jenna Jameson story and the front page. Sorry Junkie :)

Of course, I’ll be back again later in the week with full writeups and predictions for Thursday’s UFC Fight Night 9 and for this weekend’s UFC 69 event. Expect the writeup for Fight Night to be posted tonight or tomorrow morning, and the writeup for UFC 69 should be posted Thursday. Both cards have some intriguing matchups, and I think there are some good opportunities to make some money here. Remember, if you are looking for more information on betting on MMA or just want to see what it’s all about, check out the MMAjunkie MMA Wagering Guide.

On to the quick hits:

As the Junkie himself just mentioned, Dana White and the UFC gave an update to the media yesterday in preparation for this weekend’s UFC 69 event. Not a ton of direct news, mostly ambiguous generalities, but one major item intrigued me greatly: White mentioned that the UFC is looking at none other than young PRIDE standout Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (16-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) — 12-1 in PRIDE — of Brazil’s vaunted Chute Boxe Academy to fight the winner of Chuck Liddell and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, who headline the UFC 71 event on May 26.

White mentioned that the title shot “wasn’t a ‘definitely’ at this time”but that Shogun is who the UFC is looking at for the next light heavyweight title fight. Just the fact that the UFC is already looking to integrate the best of PRIDE with the best of the UFC is highly exciting. However, White did mention that it would be “at least a year” before there was a full combined UFC/PRIDE show.

White also announced that the fight between Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic and new UFC heavyweight champion Randy “The Natural” Couture should take place in August. This, of course, is contingent on Filipovic getting past Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 70 later this month.

Diego Sanchez and Josh Koscheck got on the call to talk about their feud and answer some questions. One reporter asked Koscheck if he and Sanchez really don’t like each other. Koscheck replied, “Oh, we absolutely hate each other.” Good stuff. I can’t wait to see this fight go down.

I also wanted to mention that Tyler Horton from BloodyKnux.com put together a great audio interview with “Mr. International” Shonie Carter. Carter is always entertaining, and it’s a solid interview. Carter is his usual humble self and manages to diss seven-time King of Pancrase Nate Marquardt and The Ultimate Fighter 4 welterweight winner Matt Serra in the first minutes of the interview. Carter talks about being on The Ultimate Fighter, being a MMA veteran (Carter’s first fight in the UFC was way back in 2000 at UFC 24) and even applying his unique style to “bling out” clothing. Carter also updates us on the progress of his rehab from the broken hand and arm he suffered in the Marcus Davis fight, discusses rumors of his up-and-coming fights, and highlights the book he’s writing on his life story and trying to get published, titled “From the Cradle to the Cage.”